Suicide victim's mother files federal suit against officials

Jean Wargo of Mahanoy City claims negligence in $3 million filing.

November 28, 2006|By Chris Parker Of The Morning Call

Schuylkill County Prison officials never should have removed 18-year-old Tristan P. Wargo from suicide watch and placed him alone in a cell with the sheets he used to hang himself Nov. 6, 2004, according to a $3 million federal lawsuit filed by Wargo's mother.

Jean Wargo of Mahanoy City is suing the county, the warden and 20 others in U.S. District Court in Scranton, claiming negligence and asking for $150,000 in damages from each of the defendants.

Tristan P. Wargo had been in jail for nine days, charged with robbing a McAdoo pharmacy of $7,000 worth of OxyContin, when he killed himself.

His family contends he became addicted to the powerful painkiller after being prescribed it for back injuries he suffered after a fall.

Further, the suit says, county officials told news reporters that Wargo had been seen by a doctor, a nurse and a counselor prior to being removed from the suicide watch. That was not true, according to the suit.

Only the warden and a counselor were involved in that decision, the suit says.

County solicitor Paul Datte said Monday the suit erroneously names Public Works Director William Liptok, former county Administrator Robert M. Shaffer and Datte as members of the county Prison Board.

The Prison Board, according to the lawsuit, "was at all times material [sic] responsible for establishing policies and practices, budget, training and other administrative matters relative to the operation" of the prison.

Datte said he had received a copy of the suit on Monday morning but could not comment on it other than to say that "we'll be reviewing and responding."

The suit "probably will be referred to the county's insurance carrier -- the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania and its affiliate, P-CoRP," Datte said. "I think it would premature to comment on the allegations."

According to the suit and police reports, Wargo was arrested Oct. 28, 2004, hours after trying to rob DeBalko's Standard Drug Store in Kline Township. He had no prior criminal record, the suit says.

He was placed in a holding cell, where employees noted that he was "exhibiting visible signs of alcohol/drug withdrawal."

On Oct. 30, Wargo told a guard he had smuggled OxyContin pills into the prison in a plastic bag in his rectum.

He told the guard he had swallowed about 10 of the pills in an attempt to kill himself.

Wargo was placed on a suicide watch. Later that day, according to the suit, he tried to hurt himself using threads he took from his mattress. Guards took away the mattress.

On Oct. 31, he put a staple in his eye. A guard removed the staple.

The suit contends that Wargo was to be checked every 15 minutes but that guards looked in on him only every hour or so until the staple incident.

On Nov. 4, prison counselor Michael Kryzak ordered the 15-minute checks downgraded to every 30 minutes. Wargo also was given a blanket.

On Nov. 5, Kryzak ordered Wargo released from suicide watch and housed alone in a disciplinary cell, where he was confined 23 hours a day and given sheets, blankets "and other items with which he could harm and/or kill himself," according to the suit.

Kryzak's decision was "based upon the fact that Mr. Wargo apparently didn't have a known psychiatric history or any medical problems that would preclude it," the suit says.

A guard found Wargo hanging in his cell at 2:40 p.m. Nov. 6. He was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital, Pottsville, where he was pronounced dead at 3:05 p.m.

In addition to the county, Berdanier, Datte, Schaffer, Kryzak and Liptok, the suit names Commissioners Frank J. Staudenmeier, Robert S. Carl and Gallagher; former District Attorney Frank Cori; President Judge William Baldwin; county Controller Gary Hornberger; Sheriff Frank McAndrew; two doctors who worked at the prison; prison psychiatrist Harold Pascal; the St. Luke's Physician Group, which employed Pascal; prison nurse Patti Hoak; another prison nurse identified only as Jane Doe; correctional officers identified only by their surnames, Bloschichak and Heckman, and their supervisors, identified as M. Flannery and Rizzardi.

County officials have been coping with at least three suicides and attempted suicides in recent years.

On Sept. 17, 2005, an unidentified 45-year-old inmate tried to hang himself by tying a bedsheet to the bars on his cell window. He was found in time and recovered.

On Aug. 5, 2005, Matthew J. Chillemi, 26, was found in his cell shortly after 10 a.m. having hanged himself the same way Wargo did.

Since then, Berdanier has had the prisons vents covered with protective mesh that would prevent inmates from tying anything to them.

Berdanier in August said inmates who indicate they may try to kill themselves are now watched more closely. If the threat appears credible, they may be put into a special cell with no sheets and given a suicide smock to wear and use as a blanket, he said.

The sleeveless, dress-like smock is made of a thick material that cant be ripped or used as a noose.